Review: Lulu und Jimi (2009)

[Tristán White]

LULU AND JIMI (LULU UND JIMI)
Directed by: Oskar Roehler
Review by:  Tristán Harvey E. White
Rating: (0 to *****):    ** (two stars out of five)

I was very much looking forward to seeing this film at the German Film
Festival in London earlier this week, but while the film as it stands
is occasionally entertaining, I was confused as to what the point of
this project was.

Let me explain: LULU AND JIMI is, basically, a German version of David
Lynch's wonderful film WILD AT HEART. But yet, somehow, it is not a
remake, as the characters and location are different, and the story is
only marginally similar.

Which is probably the main problem. The film is neither a remake nor
an homage. I would say it is more a "pastiche" of WILD AT HEART (WaH),
and I don't really like pastiches.

Before I continue in this vein, let me explain myself more clearly. I
should point out now though that I'm going to be giving some of the
story away so, if you haven't seen the film yet, stop reading now.

It is 1959, and Lulu (cf Lula in WaH), played by Jennifer Decker (who
has shades of Penélope Cruz about her) lives with a rich but crazy
family. The mother is an alcoholic (cf. the Dianne Ladd character in
WaH) a racist, and clearly was a Nazi sympathiser, who wants her to
marry someone else. But Lulu falls for the black American Jimi (London-
born Ray Feardon, better known as Nathan Cooper from Corrie, or
Malcolm Tumelo from Doctors), who works with the dodgem cars in the
local funfair. Jimi fights with Lulu's brother (who ends up wheelchair-
bound) and he ends up going to prison for it, only to be released
after Lulu testifies against her family. Meanwhile, Lulu's mother is
trying to turn her daughter into someone more docile by using her Dr
Mengele-type friend to inject a drug into Lulu, a practice he already
had carried out on Lulu's own father as seen in various
flashbacks.Lulu and Jimi escape, meet a female traffic accident victim
(cf Sheilyn Fenn in WaH), they go to a gig where Jimi sings Lulu a
song (cf "Love Me Tender" in WaH). The best bit about "Lulu und Jimi"
is probably the character of Harry Hass (cf Willem Defoe's Bobby Peru
in WaH), who tries to take Jimi on a robbery and then almost rapes
Lulu back in the motel. Hass is just as vile a character as Peru, but
this version works particularly well because the climax (no pun
intended) is very funny, whereas the Bobby Peru scene is rather
uncomfortable viewing.

Throughout the movie, there are direct parallels with WaH, whether
it's Lulu's mother smudging her makeup, the "yellow brick" lines in
the motorway, Lulu rapidly stamping her feet after they hear a song on
the radio while parked, etc. The film, unsurprisingly, is dedicated to
"David L."

So what's the problem? Well, I have to ask myself, WHY?  I hate
remakes, period. But I can understand their relevance, because some
people either don't like watching subtitled Korean (etc) movies or
they live nowhere near a decent arthouse cinema. So the only way they
will get to see these stories is by seeing a remake (sadly).

But LULU AND JIMI is completely different. Firstly, it's only "kind
of" a remake, as you have seen from my short review. Secondly, most of
the audience who would watch LULU AND JIMI would have already seen
Lynch's WILD AT HEART. And, to be honest, you almost *need* to have
seen WILD AT HEART to get some of the in-jokes. Why? Because, as I
have said all along, this is not a remake. It is more an homage, or a
pastiche, and therefore you need to know the original to understand
the essence of this film.

The whole experience left me rather unsatisfied. For a start, WILD AT
HEART is a wonderful film, so is there really any point? The best
homage one can pay to that film is to watch it again. Whereas LULU AND
JIMI reminded me of Sanjay Gupta's 2002 Hindi language film KAANTE,
which is about six bank-robbers who pull off the perfect robbery only
to discover that one of them is an undercover copper. Cue paranoia,
ear mutilation and shootouts in warehouses. A good film, but on the
whole absolutely pointless. If you like this kind of film, you'll
prefer RESERVOIR DOGS (which is easier to get hold of anyway). If
you've seen RESERVOIR DOGS, you won't really want to see this later
second-rate version.

Reviewer:  Tristán White
***********************************************************************
94 minutes.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763844/
LULU UND JIMI has been doing the festivals throughout 2009, and has
already been to Sundance in the USA and the German Film Festival in
London, UK. It is not yet on general release in either country, but
look out for it at your nearest festival. It is shown in Dublin,
Ireland on 13 December, and will no doubt feature in various festivals
around the planet over the coming months.